System and Method for Immersive Process Design Collaboration on Mobile Devices

1. A computer implemented method for presenting a Business Process Modeling Notation (BPMN) design model on a computing device, the method comprising: identifying, by a computer processor, a plurality of model entities, relationships among the model entities, and a distance proximity between the model entities, of the BPMN design model; grouping the identified entities into distinct clusters based on the identified relationships and the distance proximity between the model entities grouped into a same cluster; presenting, by the computer processor, a model view area to display a selected view of the design model on a display area of the computing device, the model view area including: a predetermined model entity displayed in the model view area, a plurality of stacks of entities representing model entities in a collapsed and folded way, and each stack including grouped entities from a specific cluster arranged along a boundary edge of the predetermined model entity displayed in the model view area with at least one of the stacks containing grouped entities from a same cluster as the predetermined model entity and at least one of the stacks containing grouped entities from a different cluster as the predetermined model entity; and replacing the predetermined model entity displayed in the model view area with a model entity in a stack arranged along a user selected boundary when the user navigates to the user selected boundary on the computing device.

2. The computer implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the computing device is a mobile device that includes one of a smart phone and a personal digital assistant (PDA).

3. The computer implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the relationships are identified based on a spatial relationship among the model entities arranged on a two-dimensional design diagram pane.

4. The computer implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the relationships are identified based on at least one of control flow and message flow among the model entities in a process model.

5. The computer implemented method of claim 4 , wherein neighboring model entities based on message flow are indicated in a vertical direction and neighboring model entities based on control flow are indicated in a horizontal direction.

6. The computer implemented method of claim 1 , further comprising: providing a cursor entity associated with the predetermined model entity, wherein when a plurality of the model entities are displayed on a different computing device connected with the computing device, the cursor indicates the model entity currently in focus on the computing device.

7. The computer implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the design model has a primary copy saved on a collaboration server and a local copy stored on the computing device.

8. The computer implemented method of claim 7 , further comprising: presenting a toolbar with a plurality of action buttons on the display area of the computing device, the action buttons including a button to add a model entity, a button to delete a model entity, a search field to search for a particular model entity, and a button indicating a plurality of second level model actions are provided in a secondary screen.

9. The computer implemented method of claim 1 , further comprising presenting a plurality of view options including a global view representing an overall view of the design model, and a grouped view representing a list view of the model entities based on group affiliations.

10. The computer implemented method of claim 9 , wherein the grouped view presents a button to choose a grouping criterion and a button to choose an order criterion.

11. A computing device, comprising: a memory to store computer program instructions; and a processor configured to execute the computer program instructions to: identify a plurality of model entities, relationships among the model entities, and a distance proximity between the model entities, of a Business Process Modeling Notation design model; group the identified entities into distinct clusters based on the identified relationships and the distance proximity between the model entities grouped into a same cluster; present a model view area to display a selected view of the design model on a display area of the computing device, the model view area including: a predetermined model entity displayed in the model view area, a plurality of stacks of entities representing model entities in a collapsed and folded way, and each stack including grouped entities from a specific cluster arranged along a boundary edge of the predetermined model entity displayed in the model view area with at least one of the stacks containing grouped entities from a same cluster as the predetermined model entity and at least one of the stacks containing grouped entities from a different cluster as the predetermined model entity; and replace the predetermined model entity displayed in the model view area with a model entity in a stack arranged along a user selected boundary when the user navigates to the user selected boundary on the computing device.

12. The computing device of claim 11 , wherein the computing device is a mobile device that includes one of a smart phone and a PDA.

13. The computing device of claim 11 , wherein the relationships are identified based on a spatial relationship among the model entities arranged on a two-dimensional design diagram pane.

14. The computing device of claim 11 , wherein the relationships are identified based on at least one of control flow and message flow among the model entities in a process model.

15. The computing device of claim 14 , wherein neighboring model entities based on message flow are indicated in a vertical direction and neighboring model entities based on control flow are indicated in a horizontal direction.

16. The computing device of claim 11 , wherein the processor is further configured to: provide a cursor entity associated with the predetermined model entity, wherein when a plurality of the model entities are displayed on a different computing device connected with the computing device, the cursor indicates the model entity currently in focus on the computing device.

17. The computing device of claim 11 , wherein the design model has a primary copy saved on a collaboration server and a local copy stored on the computing device.

18. The computing device of claim 17 , wherein the processor is further configured to: present a toolbar with a plurality of action buttons on the display area of the computing device, the action buttons including a button to add a model entity, a button to delete a model entity, a search field to search for a particular model entity, and a button indicating a plurality of second level model actions are provided in a secondary screen.

19. The computing device of claim 11 , further comprising presenting a plurality of view options including a global view representing an overall view of the design model, and a grouped view representing a list view of the model entities based on group affiliations.

20. The computing device of claim 19 , wherein the grouped view presents a button to choose a grouping criterion and a button to choose an order criterion.

21. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium embodied with program instructions for causing a computing device to execute a method for presenting a Business Process Modeling Notation (BPMN) design model, the method comprising: identifying, by a computer processor, a plurality of model entities, relationships among the model entities, and a distance proximity between the model entities, of the BPMN design model; grouping the identified entities into distinct clusters based on the identified relationships and the distance proximity between the model entities grouped into a same cluster; presenting, by the computer processor, a model view area to display a selected view of the design model on a display area of the computing device, the model view are including: a predetermined model entity displayed in the model view area, a plurality of stacks of entities representing model entities in a collapsed and folded way, and each stack including grouped entities from a specific cluster arranged along a boundary edge of the predetermined model entity displayed in the model view area with at least one of the stacks containing grouped entities from a same cluster as the predetermined model entity and at least one of the stacks containing grouped entities from a different cluster as the predetermined model entity; and replacing the predetermined model entity displayed in the model view area with a model entity in a stack arranged along a user selected boundary when the user navigates to the user selected boundary on the computing device.

22. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 21 , wherein the computing device is a mobile device that includes a smart phone or a PDA.

23. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 21 , wherein the relationships are identified based on a spatial relationship among the model entities arranged on a two-dimensional design diagram pane.

24. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 21 , wherein the relationships are identified based on control flow, message flow or both among the model entities in a process model.

25. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 24 , wherein neighboring model entities based on message flow are indicated in a vertical direction and neighboring model entities based on control flow are indicated in a horizontal direction.

26. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 21 , wherein the method further comprising: providing a cursor entity associated with the predetermined model entity, wherein when a plurality of the model entities are displayed on a different computing device connected with the computing device, the cursor indicates the model entity currently in focus on the computing device.

27. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 21 , wherein the design model has a primary copy saved on a collaboration server and a local copy stored on the computing device.

28. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 27 , wherein the method further comprises: presenting a toolbar with a plurality of action buttons on the display area of the computing device, the action buttons including a button to add a model entity, a button to delete a model entity, a search field to search for a particular model entity, and a button indicating a plurality of second level model actions are provided in a secondary screen.

29. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 21 , wherein the method further comprises presenting a plurality of view options including a global view representing an overall view of the design model, and a grouped view representing a list view of the model entities based on group affiliations.

30. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 29 , wherein the grouped view presents a button to choose a grouping criterion and a button to choose an order criterion.

31. The computer implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the clusters are identified by a k-means clustering heuristics.

32. The computing device of claim 11 , wherein the clusters are identified by a k-means clustering heuristics.

33. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 21 , wherein the clusters are identified by a k-means clustering heuristics.